My Top 100 Favorite Video Games
So, for me to do a 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, I think it would be good to tell you guys my taste in video games. My favorites are a combination of nostalgia, fun, play-ability, and overall product. How am I going to sort these? How much that I respect them as a video game is the closest thing that lines up on list, although there are great games I admittedly don't care about and vice-versa. It's not "I'd rather play number 52 over number 51" though. One thing that each of these games have in common is that at some point I was obsessed with them, kind of like what I've done with Haven and Hearth, ''and more recently ''Project Zomboid, here. It's the kind of gamer I am. But by the definition of how I'm ranking this list, you can imagine that this part is going to be filled with the most random crap. And if there are some games similar to my picks, recommend them to me. Number #100: Clubhouse Games (Nintendo DS) This is why I came up with that rule. Clubhouse Games is a compilation of 42 different games, ranging from bowling to card games like Texas Hold'em Poker. It's like having an entire internet arcade website on your handheld. And that's why I can't put this any higher than #100. This doesn't have any unique games of it's own. The closest thing it has is Hafunda (don't ask because I don't know). There are other problems too, like its version of Battleship being poorly made (if you have ships consisting of only one space it becomes a shallow guessing game). However, out of 42 games there are very few duds. Besides Battleship and Hafunda (which is too confusing to play casually. It's like trying to learning Magic the Gathering on the go), the only dud I can think of is Old Maid which is entirely luck based in single player. Good thing they started with that game in the single player mode, which is needed to unlock Shogi, Stratego, ''and ''Parcheesi. That being said, this would have made a great pack-in title since it incorporates what hand-helds do best, along with great touch controls. Number #99: LSD Dream Emulator (PlayStation) This is the most disturbing game I've ever played, and here's the thing -- it tricks you into thinking that it won't be, or that it will even be boring. Here's the point: there is no goal. You walk around and explore the imagery of a Japanese woman's dreams. It sounds like a random art-house kind of thing, and in some ways it is, but at least where you can't understand the language, it is first and foremost a horror game. Here's why: everything is randomized. Everything: the map, the creatures, even the music. That doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, how would you react if a statue you've walked past a million times suddenly decides to come alive and attack you? You'd never expect a game called "LSD" to be sane per-se, but you'd never expect it to be this terrifying. You turn around a nice city walk to suddenly see people hanging from lamp posts (and I do mean hanging). Despite, or perhaps because of, its outdated graphics, it still manages to be terrifying. Even polygonal characters can be horrifying if they don't have a fucking face. So why is this on my favorites? Well, sometimes it's fun to be scared. Or experience something bizarre. Number #98: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PlayStation) I tend to not like cinematic platformers for one specific reason: they tend to be fucking hard. And Abe's Oddysee is no exception. This game is hard. Really hard. Even if you're not going to try and save your fellow mudokens. Which you need to save at least fifty of. Which the game doesn't tell you until it's too late to save that many. Why is it still one of my favorites, and probably my favorite cinematic platformer? Because it's fair. You've got infinite lives, and if you don't try to save all of your friends it's got a pretty standard difficulty progression. And yes, it's extremely fun to take control of the sligs. Not to mention that the scrabs and paramites (yes, all of the creatures in this game sound like nasty STDS) are incredibly fascinating creatures. Also, the graphics were impressive, not only for the PSX era, but for today. It's like the 3D Earthworm Jim that we never really got. I can't put this game any higher unfortunately though because, like most of the genre, it's way too difficult for my tastes. Why not Abe's Exoddus? Because rescuing Mudokens were hard enough without making them blind, depressed, or other insufferable conditions that make you want to lead them right into a meat grinder. Number #97: Alter Ego (1986) (Apple ][; DOS; Browser www.playalterego.com/) Yeah, it's another "artsy" game. This game is essentially a "choose your own adventure book." What's the adventure? Life. You make all of the choices about your life to the point where you can decide how easy you make your mother's pregnancy. Decide if you want to get married, have kids, and die at a ripe old age, or drink the bleach under the sink when you're still a toddler. Of course, it's not always that black and white. There are some chance things, which you might survive or you might not, and there are some things that you need to "strategize" your way through. The game can be funny, like berating you if you fall for a college scam. Or the game can be heartwarming. Here's a quote: "You've done something much kinder than you can imagine at this age. You've given this woman a reason to live." And the game can be dark. One way to die as a child? A failed stranger danger scenario taken to its logical extreme. It's not a kid's game by any stretch of the imagination. But if you fail you can start over. In fact, you might want to do that anyway. You cannot do everything in one play-through. The game will send you to the next stage of life before you can, which can really alter your way of thinking. This game is another one that would be much higher if it was more of a "game." In fact, I think they should remake this as a modern game. That would be something. Number #96: Asteroids (Arcade) And now we get to the arcade games. How the hell do I talk about these? I mean... you're a triangle and shooting asteroids, which become smaller asteroids... and then you get points. Actually, this is the oldest game on my list (1979). Most 70's games don't appeal to me that much. Pong is great, but... it's a two-player game. And it's 2014. Who would want to play pong with me, over say... Mario Power Tennis? Breakout is really fun, although on the Atari 2600, it's like impossible to get to level 2. Combat has the game problem as Pong. Adventure? Well... why would I play that for anything other than historical reasons when I can play The Legend of Zelda. Okay, what about Space Invaders? Honestly, it's way too easy for me. Asteroids actually has some challenge. You have to constantly watch your back, and know the patterns and directions of the asteroids or you'll lose. So... yeah... Asteroids is fun. Number #95: Dr. Mario (NES) There were two main puzzle games on the NES: Tetris ''and ''Dr. Mario. Believe it or not, I always found the NES Tetris way too easy. Not to mention that I got waaay too used to Tetris' spin-offs, like The Next Tetris and Tetris Plus (let me tell you that Tetris Plus has some of the best music of any video game ever). Dr. Mario got no spin-offs, to my knowledge. And that's really sad. I found this game more of a challenge, probably because it come to my life more recently. I played Tetris games as a child. I never played Dr. Mario games until I was an adult, but this game does require more awareness. Why Not Columns? Because Columns is the easiest fucking puzzle game I've ever played. Why not Tetris & Dr. Mario? Because compilation games like that is cheating on this list. Number #94: Cogs (PC) Hey, it's another puzzle games. This is like a more realized Pipe Dream, but in 3 dimensions. You make steampunk inventions connecting pipes, cogs, colors, etc while doing it as fast as possible and with as few moves as possible. It's an extremely fun game, and I'd like it more if... Well, Cogs has the oddest fucking problem I've ever seen. You cannot ever delete your save file, especially if you bought the Steam version. No seriously, I not only formatted my computer and still had the same save; I got another computer and still had the same save. There's no manual deletion either. A part of the fun of games like this is unlocking things, and when you've hit the proverbial wall the only way to feel progression is to start over. And sometimes that extra progression can give you the extra motivation to get further. I honestly can't figure this problem out. Can anyone tell me how to start this game over? Especially because it's been at least months since I've played this game? Number #93: Balloon Fight/Joust (NES) Didn't you say that something like this is cheating? No. The game on this list is Balloon Fight, but Balloon Fight could be considered a rip-off of the arcade game Joust. Even if it is a rip-off it's still a fun game. And you could probably guess how I got this game. Yup, playing Animal Crossing and came across the NES games. Man, do I wish they still did that. I mean, New Leaf has the virtual boy... yes. I want virtual boy games to be downloadable on the 3DS. How else will I ever play something like Virtual Boy Wario Land. I mean, a lot of people would buy them if nothing but for curiosity. You can't exactly lose money by putting something on virtual console. Ha ha, virtual virtual boy. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, my favorite of the Animal Crossing NES games that you didn't need to cheat to get. It's fun. I told you these arcade games were hard to talk about. When we get into the bigger games I'll have a lot more to talk about. Number #92: Tetris Attack (SNES) Remember how I said that I liked the spin-off games more than Tetris? Well, yeah, this is my favorite of them. Why? Well, this is the most relaxing game in existence. No really. If you are stressed, play an endless game here with level 3's music. Then again this isn't a Tetris ''spin-off. It's just a foreign game with a coat of Yoshi paint that has nothing to do with Tetris at all; except for maybe the genre. So what would be my favorite Tetris spin-off? ''Tetris Plus, which isn't on this list. I can't really say much about this game though. It's the most relaxing video game ever made (the SNES version anyway; not sure about the other versions). I just hope I can get through the puzzle games so I can talk seriously about some of these games. Number #91: Zuma Deluxe (PC) Shit. Wait, Zuma is a puzzle game? I almost thought that it was like an action game. Alright, but seriously. Zuma feels like it has the best flow of any puzzle game. Some lesser puzzle games have a point where they just speed up super fast or give you a piece that you really don't need, seemingly to end your game. Zuma Deluxe does not do that. It's divided quite neatly into levels, and if you have a colored ball that no longer exists the game will change it to a color that you need (although it might be blocked). It's also consistently challenging, though Zuma Deluxe ''has one of my biggest pet peeves. You know that point where you think you've beaten the game, but the game fakes you out and forces you to fight another boss or level ("Let me show you my true form!"). I have chucked controllers due to games doing that, and this game does it fucking twice. And it's a fucking puzzle game. But besides that this game is the most fair ''and challenging puzzle games I've ever played. That's a hard tightrope to walk. Why not Bejeweled (any of them)? As far as I can tell, it seems pretty luck-based. Why not Alchemy? Just don't like it as much as Zuma Why not Peggle? Um... seems way too luck-based. Why not Feeding Frenzy? Are we going to list all of the other Popcap games? Never was enthralled by it. Join us next time where we list off games 90-81, along with some honorable mentions that you guys wonder aren't on my list games edition (most likely because I haven't played yet). Category:Top Tens Category:Miscellaneous